Snubs & Surprises in the 2023 Emmy Nominations

Gomez was passed over for a nod for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for the second year in a row for Only Murders in the Building. More surprisingly, her co-star Steve Martin was passed over for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series after being nominated last year. Martin Short was nominated in that category for the second year in a row. All three stars are nominated for outstanding comedy series as executive producers on the show for the second year. Gomez was also passed over for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special for Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.

The legendary star received his first Primetime Emmy nomination – outstanding variety special (live) for Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. If the show wins, the Rocket Man will become an EGOT. He has already won five Grammys, two Oscars and a Tony.

Fun Fact: Tim Rice, Elton’s collaborator on the Oscar-winning “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and other songs from The Lion King, became an EGOT in 2018.

The Grammy Awards telecast, which was nominated for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) in four of the last five years, failed to receive a nod in that category this year. And both of the Grammy Salutes specials that aired during the eligibility year – A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys (CBS) and Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon (CBS) – were passed over for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles was a contender in the latter category nine years ago. Of course, The Beatles are in a class of their own.

One year after a celebration of hip-hop became the first Super Bowl Halftime Show to win a top program Emmy, programs about two late, legendary rappers are nominated in various categories. Dear Mama (FX), a program about Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni, was nominated for outstanding documentary or non-fiction series. The Notorious B.I.G.: Sky’s The Limit: A VR Concert Experience was nominated for outstanding emerging media program.

Two other rap icons came up short in Emmy balloting. Kendrick Lamar Live from Paris: The Big Steppers Tour (Prime Video) was passed over for a nod for outstanding variety special (live); and Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi) was passed over for a nod for outstanding character voiceover performance for Entergalactic (Netflix).

Parton’s latest TV movie, Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas, was nominated for outstanding television movie. Parton has been nominated in that category in four of the last seven years, winning two years ago for Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square. Everybody loves Dolly, even Emmy voters.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (The Roku Channel) was nominated for outstanding television movie. Yankovic is also nominated for outstanding original music and lyrics for “Now You Know,” which he wrote for that show. The nominations are just the latest sign of Yankovic’s success, which is unprecedented for a musical parody artist. He has won five Grammys and even had a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Mandatory Fun.

Lizzo, who won her first Primetime Emmy last year for Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, is nominated this year for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for Lizzo: Live in Concert (HBO Max). In addition to her Emmy last year (for outstanding competition program), Lizzo has won four Grammys.

The Voice is nominated for outstanding reality/competition show for the 12th consecutive year. That allows it to pull ahead of Dancing With the Stars (which has had 11 nods in the category) for the most nominations in this category by a music or dance program. American Idol is in third place, with nine nods. Idol was last nominated in that category in 2011. Unlike The Voice (which has won four times in the category), Idol has yet to win.

Both veteran broadcasters were passed over for outstanding reality-competition host. Daly has yet to be nominated in that category for hosting The Voice. Seacrest hasn’t been nominated for hosting American Idol since 2016 – and has yet to win in that category. Daly has won four Primetime Emmys as a producer of The Voice, which (as noted above) was voted outstanding reality competition program four times. Seacrest’s only Primetime Emmy win is as executive producer of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, which was voted outstanding reality program in 2010.

The former two-term President could be headed for his second Primetime Emmy win. Obama is nominated for outstanding narrator for Working: What We Do All Day (Netflix). He won in the same category last year for another Netflix show, Our Great National Parks. Michelle Obama received her first Emmy nod as an executive producer of The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama & Oprah Winfrey (also Netflix). The show is nominated for outstanding hosted non-fiction series or special. Both Obamas are Grammy winners. He has two. She has one.

The Late, Late Show With James Corden (CBS) was passed over for a nod for outstanding talk series for its final season, while the spinoff The Last, Last Late, Late Show Carpool Karaoke Special (also CBS) was passed over for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). But Corden did manage a nod in a third, albeit lower-profile, category – outstanding short-form comedy, documentary or variety series for Carpool Karaoke: The Series.

The Late, Late Show With James Corden (CBS) was nominated for outstanding talk series four years in a row (2016-19), but never won in that category. But Carpool Karaoke specials won outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) three times in the same four-year span.

Though Dear Mama, the program about 2Pac and his mother, was nominated this year, numerous other highly-regarded music docs were passed over in the two documentary categories. Passed over for nods for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series: Menudo: Forever Young (HBO); Surviving R. Kelly Part III: The Final Chapter (Lifetime); and Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever (Disney+). Passed over for nods for outstanding documentary or non-fiction special: If These Walls Could Sing (Disney+); Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (Apple TV+); Love to Love You: Donna Summer (HBO); Love, Lizzo (HBO); The Sound of 007 (Prime Video); and Music Box: Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed (HBO).

Another doc, Moonage Daydream (HBO), about David Bowie, was passed over for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking.

Sixteen months after winning her first Oscar for playing TV personality (and sometime singer) Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jessica Chastain is nominated for a Primetime Emmy for playing country legend Tammy Wynette in George & Tammy (Showtime). Chastain is nominated for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie.

Riley Keough was nominated for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for Daisy Jones & the Six (Prime Video). The show is a buzzy hit, so her nomination was not a surprise. The surprise is that Keough is the first member of her storied family to receive a Primetime Emmy nod. Her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, and grandfather Elvis Presley, were never nominated.

Sixty years after their first of three joint specials, Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, won an Emmy as outstanding program achievement in the field of music, Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett each landed nods. Andrews is nominated for outstanding character voice-over performance for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix); Burnett is up for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) for Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (NBC). This gives Andrews a 65-year span of Emmy nominations. She was first nominated in 1958 for her lead role in Cinderella. As for Burnett, this is the seventh consecutive decade in which the TV icon has landed a Primetime Emmy nod. She has been nominated in every decade since the 1960s.

Two women are nominated for outstanding host for a game show in the same year for the first time. Palmer is nominated for hosting a revival of Password; Bialik is nominated for Jeopardy! Ken Jennings, who shares hosting duties with Bialik on the latter show, was also nominated in that category. These hosts are stepping into big shoes. Allen Ludden, the original host of Password, and Alex Trebek, the host most associated with Jeopardy!, are among the greatest hosts in TV history.